Filenews 19 December 2020 - by Dora Christodoulou
It was a very busy Friday night in Paphos, with the police on their feet to deal with all kinds of incidents. Arson of two vehicles, a serious traffic accident, a chase reminiscent of a movie and drugs were on the "menu" of the evening.
Two vehicles belonging to the same person were extensively damaged on Friday night to Saturday by a fire that authorities said was maliciously set on fire. The fire in the vehicles broke out while they were parked in an open space despite their owner's residence. The cars, worth a total of six thousand euros, suffered several damage before the Fire Department's intervention and the fire was extinguished, while the scene was cordoned off and the Police began collecting evidence of the causes and perpetrators of the action, since from the early stages of the investigations it has been confirmed that the fire was a product of malicious action.
On the same night scenes from a film were unfolded in central parts of Paphos when a driver not only caused a traffic accident with eyewitnesses police officers who were on patrol, but then attempted to escape by driving in a way that put human lives at immediate and real risk. The incident began to unfold from the traffic junction of Koni, when members of group Z of Paphos Traffic who were there to monitor the measures applied, perceived a car bumping into a vehicle in front.
But instead of stopping after the accident he caused, the driver began driving too dangerously to escape the scene. Although the force's motorcyclists began to chase him, the driver continued a dangerous course, passing through red traffic lights and driving recklessly on busy roads in an attempt to escape.
The vehicle was eventually stopped at a point on Eleftherios Venizelos Avenue and the driver, who was found to be a Georgian resident of Cyprus, underwent a drug test with a positive indication. He was arrested and taken into custody, while his vehicle was picked up and taken to the Paphos Police Directorate.
Georgian was also the "star" of another incident the same night. The holder of a Greek passport resident of Paphos was found to be driving a car on a road in Paphos and the investigation submitted by members of the Traffic Police found that inside the vehicle there were burglary tools for which he was unable to give convincing explanations. He was arrested and transferred to the Paphos Police Directorate, while the evidence was seized in order to carry out examinations.
Friday night included a very serious cyclist injury. This is a British resident of Cyprus, who was cycling early in the evening in the coastal area of Peyia, when under conditions being investigated he was swept away by a car that was also driven by a British resident of the area. According to the tests, the two means of transport were moving in the same direction when the bike was swept away by the 55-year-old's vehicle.
The cyclist was seriously injured and taken by ambulance to Paphos Hospital where on-duty doctors found he suffered serious injuries to his head and various parts of his body. His condition was deemed very serious and he was being held for treatment.
